The Truth About Poinsettia: 10 Myths Exposed

Does poinsettia need the dark to change color? Find out from the experts.

By
OLIVIA HEATH

Dec 8, 2016

Stars for Europe

Poinsettia is the ultimate festive decoration for Christmas but how much do you really know about this stunning red plant? For a start, they're not all red. Here, the experts at Stars for Europe tackle some of the most common poinsettia myths in this guide below:

1. Poinsettia are poisonous — FALSE

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Unless you were to eat them by the bucketload, poinsettia will not make you even mildly ill. While the poinsettia is a member of the euphorbia family (Latin name is Euphorbia pulcherimma), their milky sap does not cause skin irritation. In fact, POISINDEX, a major source for poison control centers, say a 50 pound child would have to eat 500 bracts to accumulate levels of toxins found to be harmful in experiments.

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2. Poinsettia plants don't last — FALSE

If you follow the basic rules of only watering sparingly, keeping your plant out of drafts and in the warm, and giving it plenty of light, then your poinsettia will look fantastic throughout the festive season.

3. All poinsettia are red — FALSE

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While red are the traditional, bestselling and most widely available poinsettia, specialist poinsettia breeders have been hard at work over the past few decades creating beautiful white, cream, variegated, pink, apricot and salmon varieties.

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4. I have to keep my poinsettia going all year round — FALSE

Poinsettia are the ultimate Christmas decoration, as classic as the Christmas tree, but once Christmas is over you are free to pop yours on the compost heap or into the recycling bin. Bringing a poinsettia back into magnificent color is a tricky job — leave the hard growing work to the experts!

5. Poinsettia are known as "Christmas Stars" in most of the world — TRUE

Coming into color in the deepest days of winter with their star-shaped leaf bracts, poinsettia have indeed become known as Christmas Stars in many other languages, including Italian; Stella di Natale, and German; Weihnachtsstern.

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6. Poinsettia flowers are the tiny berries — TRUE

The large colorful bracts of the poinsettia are often mistaken for flower petals, but are in fact leaves. The flowers of the poinsettia are actually the tiny yellow berry-like structures at the centre of each leaf bract and are called cyathia.

7. Poinsettia can be used as cut flowers — TRUE

Poinsettia make long-lasting, dramatic cut flowers and are extremely good value. Simply snip the stem and immediately dip the end into just boiled water for 20 seconds to seal in the milky sap before putting it in cold water. Your cut poinsettia flower will then last at least a week in a bud vase, in a mixed arrangement or in flower foam.

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8. Poinsettia are named after Mr. Poinsett —TRUE

Mr. Joel Roberts Poinsett was the US diplomat, botanist and physician who discovered the poinsettia while on a diplomatic posting in Mexico, and sent cuttings home to South Carolina. International Poinsettia Day on December 12 commemorates the date of Mr. Poinsett's death.

In the 16th century the legend was born of a little Mexican girl named Pepita and the Christmas miracle. Too poor to buy a real present for baby Jesus on Christmas Eve, she picked a branch of green leaves from a shrub on her way to church and tied them into a bouquet. As she placed her gift at the foot of the altar, the leaves turned a magnificent red. The poinsettia became known as the Flores de Noche Buena, and it became the official Christmas flower of Mexico.

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10. Poinsettia need the dark to change color —TRUE

Poinsettias need a solid 12 hours of pitch darkness a day for their leaves to naturally develop from green to their final color. UK growers let this occur naturally as the winter nights draw in, and so British-grown poinsettia do not generally appear on the shelves until early November. Some mainland European growers choose to stimulate the process early by creating blackout conditions on the nursery.

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